Pet King

Even an ocean with no breeze had waves, not to mention that at the moment the wind was gusting and it was high tide. Wind and water worked in tandem as the waves raged against the sea. Zhang Zian watched the tide from the shore, feeling a bit nervous for the man aboard the raft.

The vessel had seemingly lost all mobility and was being jerked up and down atop the waves. It looked like it had lost all power or gas, so it was stuck.

The silhouette of the man aboard the raft was constantly being jerked back and forth by the storm, but he never ceased his efforts to get back to shore. He continued to row despite the wind, but whenever he managed to come a few yards closer to shore, an errant wave would bring the raft right back to where it started.

So…the man had brought the girl in the wheelchair to the shore and had gone out to sea alone aboard the raft. He had planned to be back before high tide, but due to poor planning, the raft had lost power and was trapped by the waves, with the girl almost being swept away.

She was young. The man on the raft was probably her brother, father, or someone else whom she trusted. That’s why the pair had visited the shore, but now he was in a predicament.

Now that Zhang Zian could rationalize what had happened, he let out a sigh of relief. The girl in the wheelchair wasn’t trying to commit suicide. As for the man on the raft, though he was stuck for the time being, it didn’t look like he was in any immediate danger. As long as he didn’t do anything foolish, like jumping overboard and trying to swim to shore, he would be fine once the storm died down.

One thing that Zhang Zian noticed was that the girl in the wheelchair never seemed to speak but instead pointed a lot. Even when she had been searching for her lost hat, she’d done nothing but frantically glance left and right.

Could it be that, aside from not being able to walk, she couldn’t speak either?

Then surely the heavens had been much too cruel to her.

It was like…a fairy tale he had read long ago. What was it… Cinderella? Snow White? It had been about a girl living under the sea who, due to something or someone, had wanted to live on land, so much so that she was willing to pay the price of her vocal cords in order to feel the sensation of the ground beneath her feet.

He remembered the tale, but why the girl in the story was living under the sea he couldn’t quite recall.

Seeing the silent girl in the wheelchair reminded him of this fairy tale.

Many people, including Zhang Zian himself, had lamented the fact that they hadn’t born with a silver spoon to a rich family with only a comfortable life ahead…but, now seeing the girl in the wheelchair, he began to think that all one really needed was good health and two living parents in order to lead a happier life than most.

“Hey! Are you guys okay?”

Zhuang Xiaodie hadn’t come yet, but someone else was rushing over.

It was a middle-aged man with a sharp look in his eye. Though he was wearing casual clothes similar to Zhang Zian’s, his demeanor suggested that he was shrewd and skillful.

Zhang Zian did not know him, but he looked familiar. He was used to this sort of feeling by now.

“I saw what happened from far away, but unfortunately my legs aren’t what they used to be. Good thing you were fast enough, otherwise this little lady would have been washed away,” the middle-aged man gasped while trying to catch his breath.

“It was nothing. Just glad I could help.” Zhang Zian pointed to his mouth and made waving motions with his hands, hoping to signal to the man that the girl was mute.

The man looked surprised for a second but then nodded.

“And that man. Looks like he’s with the girl, but he’s stuck on the water right now. Should we call some sort of department and ask for help?” Zhang Zian pointed at the sea.

“What man?” the middle-aged man gazed towards the water.

“That…”

Zhang Zian figured he must have pointed in the wrong direction, but then he turned his eyes toward the sea, which was now vast and empty, with no raft or man to be seen.

He rubbed his eyes and looked again Still nothing.

“Um…”

He was speechless, and his outstretched arm, which had been pointing to the water, began to drop.

That was odd. Where had the raft and the man aboard it gone?

They had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Had the raft flipped over with the man trapped beneath? No…even if it had capsized, the raft was inflated and would have simply been floating upside down instead of vanishing altogether.

Besides, the wind at this point wasn’t strong enough to overturn the raft, and the man’s rowing motions before had looked fairly skilled, so he definitely had to know what he was doing.

Then where had he gone?

The middle-aged man’s gaze went between Zhang Zian and the sea, slowly becoming suspicious.

“Maybe…I was mistaken.” Zhang Zian mustered an awkward chuckle.

“Oh?”

The middle-aged man crouched down and asked, “Young lady, is there anyone else on the ocean?”

The girl in the wheelchair shook her head.

Zhang Zian was speechless. “I can’t believe this. Then what were you pointing at on the water before?” he thought to himself.

But she really wasn’t to blame. All she had done was point at the sea without saying a word. It must have been his own mistake…but how had he managed to see a raft?

“So…you came to the shore all by yourself?” the middle-aged man inquired.

The girl did not respond.

“Can you tell me where you live? Or do you have your phone with you? I can call someone for you to pick you up. How about that?” the middle-aged man asked.

The girl shook her head.

The middle-aged man looked her over. She was wearing a form-fitting dress with no pockets and did not have a bag. There was no place to hold a phone, nor a purse with identification, so it was to be expected that she wouldn’t be able to answer.

“Alright.”

The middle-aged man stood up. The girl’s clothes were all wet and, not wanting her to catch a cold in the sea breeze, he removed his jacket and draped it over her. He turned to Zhang Zian.

“Thank you for your bravery, comrade. Leave her to me. I’ll find a way to get in touch with her family.”

Though this man looked perfectly trustworthy, Zhang Zian wasn’t about to hand over the girl just like that. After all, who knew if his heart matched his benevolent exterior?

The middle-aged man reached into his pocket and took out a wallet adorned with a police badge. He flipped it open for Zhang Zian to see.

“Forgot to mention that I’m a police officer. I brought my family to the beach for the holiday and just happened to come across you two…”

As he spoke, the man pointed not far away, where a woman and a little girl stood by.

The woman looked annoyed and impatient, as if she was silently reprimanding her husband to mind his own business while on a rare holiday, all the while still carrying an air of dignity.

The man handed over a slip of paper with a phone number written on it. “I’ll take her to the station first and ask the female officer on duty to take care of her while I find a way to identify her and get in contact with her family. My name is Sheng. If you’d like to follow up, please call me at this number.”